Raipur, December 30: The Chhattisgarh government has given its employees the option to choose between the old pension scheme and the new pension scheme, the move coming after the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority repeatedly rejected the state's demand for return of funds deposited as part of the National Pension System.

However, for those who have joined government service after April 1, 2022, it would be mandatory to be part of the old pension scheme, officials said here on Friday. "The decision was taken in a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel during the day. During the cabinet meeting, it was decided to introduce the OPS by giving option to the employees who were appointed after November 1, 2004 and before April 2022," a public relations department official said.

"For this, employees will have to submit an affidavit. If such an employee opts for OPS, he or she will have to deposit the government's contribution and dividend in the NPS account since they were appointed (after November 1, 2004) till March 31 this year to the state government's new General Provident Fund (GPF) under OPS," he explained.

It means employees opting for OPS will have to withdraw their fund deposited in the NPS account and then redeposit it in the new GPF (General Provident Fund) account of the state government, the official further said.

Baghel, during the budget session of the Assembly earlier this year, had announced that his government would reinstate the old pension scheme (OPS). Later his government wrote to PFRDA demanding refund of money deposited in the form of government and employee contribution towards NPS since November 2004.

The Congress-led state government's demand to refund Rs 17,000 crore was rejected by PFRDA. Other decisions in the cabinet meeting include distribution of fortified rice to ration cardholders except those above poverty line, and launch of the Mukhyamantri Vriksha Sampada Yojana under which commercial tree plantation will be promoted to boost the income of farmers, the official said. Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu Says His Government Committed To Implement Old Pension Scheme.

"A special scheme for the renovation of school buildings at an estimated cost of Rs 780 crore was approved. The drafts of Chhattisgarh Regularization of Unauthorized Development (Amendment) Bill-2022 and Chhattisgarh Gambling (Prohibition) Bill-2022 were approved as well," he said.

The judicial inquiry report into the Maoist attack on April 9, 2019 in Dantewada, in which Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Bhima Mandavi was killed, was also presented in the cabinet meet, the official added.